Blog Hopping

To start this week out, I'd like to share a picture with you'all of two "oh so adorable" fans of Kailee, the character in my books. They have purchased both The Pea in Peanut Butter and Kailee Finds Magic IN Words. Their mother tells me they love them both! Makes me and Kailee so happy to hear that someone is enjoying our stories. Thank you Piper and Zoey!

Also this week I have been tagged to take part in a blog-hop by Courtney.  Thank you so much Courtney for the tag.  I was asked four questions, which are as follows:



1. What are you currently working on? I am always working on my next picture book but this week I'm busy mailing out submissions for a Tooth Fairy story I've written. Researching publishers guidelines and getting the submissions in the mail takes days, and I must admit I hate this part of being a writer. However, after it's done I do feel like I've really accomplished something! But the waiting and wondering about whether the story will get accepted is not only a long slow one, but it can be very depressing. So as soon as I get these submissions out, I'll be working on finishing up the next story so I don't sit around worrying about the one I just submitted.

2. How does your work differ from others of its genre? Well I'm not so sure my work is that different but I try to bring a unique voice to my characters. I also love to sprinkle in a little magic to my stories because that's what I loved as a child and I do believe that's what other kids love the most.

3. Why do I write what I write? Because I love it. It's so much fun to be able to bring out the kid in me by writing picture books. I'm actually addicted to them. I love reading them and looking at the beautiful illustrations. And although I get nervous when reading my story to kids, it fills me with so much joy when I can see they are loving the story. I've learned a lot from reading to the kids and watching their faces and now whenever I write a story, their faces are what I envision as I write the words. 

4. How does my individual writing process work? My writing process is crazy sometimes. When I get an idea in my head, I immediately write it down. I have a huge list of book ideas. Once I decide to finally pick one up and start on it, I do a bit of outlining, not extensive. I need to know what message I'm trying to convey right away. I also need to know the name of my main character or I can't seem to get the story right. Sometimes I have to start with a title and then go from there. I spend a lot of time making up silly titles. A few of my stories I had the title in my head for years before I actually came up with the right story for it.

In order to keep the hop going, I need to tag two other writers to answer the same questions.  I have chosen:
    Mikki
    Sherry

This is a great opportunity to meet and greet these writers you may not know of so please stop on over and say hello to them. Mikki has a new book out and Sherry is about to have her first picture book published. Congrats to them both. Happy writing!